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Oedipus Essay

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Oedipus the King: Part I Analysis The audience learns about everything in this somewhat short sequence of events and stories. The audience as well goes on to figure out that all the prophecies given by the oracles and Teiresias were completely true, from the murder of his own father under his sword to even having children and marrying his own mother. Although the audience learns most, if not all as to what his life contained, we as well realize that Oedipus is completely oblivious to all these facts and completely unaccepting of the mere concept of things such as this being remotely conceivable. In this section of Part I in Oedipus the King, Sophocles gave the audience/readers some major information towards the plot and how the rest of the play will proceed. One of the biggest revelations that occurs in this section is when the shepherd who was revealed to be the only survivor of the slaughter of the crossroads refuses to go anywhere the city or especially near Oedipus and specifically asks Jocasta if he can be sent to the fields and never see that place ever again. Jocosta stated that the shepherd,
“...came home again and saw you king and Laius was dead, he came to me and touched my hand and begged that I should send him to the fields to be my shepherd and so he might see the city as far off as he might. So I sent him away. He was an honest man, as slaves go, and was worthy of far more than what he asked of me.”
The shepherd knew that he was the murderer and did not want to have to see the man face to face so that he would potentially be exposed of the crimes. The audience as well knows about everything because it was stated that the slaughter happened at the crossroads and Oedipus states that he was arriving at the city only days after that had happened and that nobody even thought it was him because he was considered to be a ‘hero’ after he drove

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